The Pistons (42-7-1) extended their lead at the top of the MJHL Sunday night with their victory over the Swan Valley Stampeders (18-30-3) by a score of 4-1.
Wyatt Hinson got the game underway with a massive hit on Swan Valley’s Lane Kirk inside the first minute of the game. The Piston’s physicality was at a high level throughout the game as hits came flying in from many usual and unusual suspects.
Tyler Anderson opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season at 15:51 of the first period. Braden Purtill would get his first assist of the night, as Will Koop got his 47th point of the season as a secondary assist.
The Pistons would take the lead into the first intermission after taking a sizable lead in shots on goal as well. For the most part the first period was relatively uninterrupted with only one penalty for each team.
Lane Kirk of the Stampeders would be called for hooking at 9:11 into the 2nd period. The Pistons would get their second powerplay with this man advantage. An errant pass on the powerplay led to a breakaway in which Swan Valley’s Keaton Jameson scored to tie the game up at 1-1.
The Stampeders could only stay level for a little over five minutes when captain Jordan Bochinski scored his 17th of the season to re-establish the lead for the Pistons. Braden Purtill would get onto the scoresheet again with his great setup pass which fed Bochinski in on net. Landon Plett, who also played a strong game, got credit for the secondary assist.
Two minutes after taking the lead, the Pistons would get an insurance marker from Danny Pion, who got his second goal in his last two games. Tyson McConnell and Mark Taraschuk would get the assists on Pion’s 12th point in 13 games as a Piston.
Midway through the third period, Swan Valley’s captain Cody Ellington went looking for a dance partner, and found a willing Riley Bruce. The Stampeders were looking for a spark to bring them back into the game, and Bruce answered the call, and extinguished the spark rather quickly. The two players would both get five for fighting and a game each, but despite this, both of these players played solid games for their respective teams.
Mark Taraschuk found an opportunity to put the game out of the reach of the Stampeders and did so less than a minute after the Bruce-Ellington fight. Taraschuk, struck home against Connor Slipp of the Stampeders to extend the lead to 4-1.
After the fight and the fourth Pistons goal, the game settled down. The Pistons would end up winning their second game in succession extending their lead over the second place Winkler Flyers to eight points, with three games in hand for Steinbach.
The Pistons next game is against the third place Selkirk Steelers on Wednesday night at the T. G. Smith Centre. The puck will drop at 7:30pm between the two teams.
Three Stars of the Game
1st Star: Mark Taraschuk (Steinbach) Goal and an Assist
2nd Star: Braden Purtill (Steinbach) 2 Assists
3rd Star: Danny Pion (Steinbach) Goal